With every new model, Mini's cars keep getting further and further away from their given name. In an effort to justify larger cars, the company known for packing 50 gallons of fun in a five gallon bucket is looking at markets that expect bigger buckets. The next step will be the unveiling of a two-door sports crossover at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show in January called the Mini Paceman.
_____________________________Follow me on Twitter

I like this car, actually. It is a Cooper for people who are tall and have tall friends. I love the athletic flanks with the rake and bulges. I like this far better than the Countryman which I though would be just the best Mini ever.
____________________________Edgy, Controversial, Dangerous...

I don't blame them. Building a successful brand off of tiny cars is a hard task. They've done very well up to this point but expanding their options is wise in my eyes.

What kills Mini for me is that their larger vehicles like the Clubman, Countryman and this concept only seat four. What's the point of making the vehicles larger if you still limit the practicality with number of seats?

I'm a big mini fan. I'm actually in talks to lease a new 2011 mini s and get away from my current mistake. I doubt this would give you much more head room, but I've never seen the head room in the cooper to be a problem. You sit low in them so my taller friends seemed to have room.

I'm not convinced that this thing will have much more headroom than a standard Cooper, but I have never seen that as a problem.

I'm just not sure there are that many people out there that want Minis to justify this many models. I guess maybe they are hoping to retain customers rather than gain conquests. I am a big Mini fan, so I hope for the best, but we will see.
------------"We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty"